young, scrappy and hungry | a hamilton story | √

Chapter 28

The next week is the most at home Kasey had ever felt. Patricia's presence made Kasey feel like she was back home, with her own mother. That hadn't happened in a long time.

It wasn't all fun and games. In fact, the Thanksgiving break ended up being more like a high-intensity history class. Three days in, Kasey felt like her brain was going to explode with all of the history that Carleigh was trying to teach her.

They took a break from Kasey's studies and decided to head to the bakery down the street from Patricia's house. Carleigh was excited- she'd gone there many, many times as a child and the owners knew her well.

On the way there, they spotted a store that displayed scarves in the window.

"We should stop in there and get scarves," Carleigh suggested.

"Alright," Kasey laughed.

When they stepped inside, they were immediately hit with a flowered perfume smell, and a blast of hot air blew Carleigh's hair across her face. 

Along the walls of the shop hung seemingly endless racks of scarves, organized by color. The patterned ones were arranged by the dominating color.

They started browsing through the scarves. Kasey drifted over to the blue ones, and Carleigh followed. They both loved blue.

"We should get British scarves," Kasey suggested. 

"I'm not British, though," Carleigh protested. "Why would I get a British scarf? You don't have an American scarf."

"I suppose you're right," Kasey conceded. They kept looking. They came upon the predominantly neutral colored scarfs. Kasey pulled out two ones with words printed on them. She turned the scarf over in her hands, reading what was written.

"These are inspirational quotes from musicals," Kasey exclaimed. Carleigh read the scarves over Kasey's shoulder. There were quotes from Phantom, Les Miserables, Wicked, Newsies, Lion King... 

"I think we should get them," Carleigh said. "How much are they?"

"They're only ten dollars. We should," Kasey agreed. "Which one do you want? One of them is in cursive and one of them is in text."

"I'll take the text one. It looks like a book," Carleigh said. 

"I wanted the written one anyway," Kasey said. "It works perfectly."

"Now we can have our secret friend scarves, and when we wear them, we'll think of each other, even if we're not in the same place," Carleigh said excitedly as they paid for their scarves and stepped back into the brisk November day.

They finally made it to the bakery, and immediately-

"CARLEIGH BETTIOL, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME!?" a voice shouted. Carleigh was ambushed by an older lady. The lady's husband looked on with a grin on his face. "I haven't seen you in ages, and when I heard about the Hamilton shooting, I was so scared!"

"Oh, Joanne, you didn't have to worry about me," Carleigh laughed. "I was safe. The tech took great care of us."

"That's great. Now, come sit down. I'll get you your favorite," Joanne said, fussing around Carleigh, patting her hair down. She turned to Kasey.

"Now, who are you?" she asked, not unkindly. 

Kasey stuck out her hand. "Kasey Winslow," she said. "I'm Carleigh's apartment friend."

"You're the British one," Joanne mused. "Now, are you two together?"

"What!?" Carleigh exclaimed. "No, no, no. We're not dating! Joanne, you know me too well to think that I date girls."

"I was just making sure. You never know how someone will change your life," Joanne said. "I already like you, Kasey Winslow."

"Thanks, I try," Kasey laughed. 

"So a chocolate chip muffin for Carleigh, with chai tea, and then a lemon muffin with hot chocolate for Kasey," Joanne said. 

"How did you know?" Kasey asked. 

"I know these things. I can look at people and know what their favorites are," Joanne said simply. "Have a seat, and I'll bring it over."

Kasey and Carleigh sat down at a small table by the window. "

"So you're going to court, right?" Carleigh asked.

"Yeah, I think I am. I want to be there for everyone, but I wasn't called to testify. I think I need to be there, though," Kasey said. "Are you going?"

"I don't think so. I want to stay with my mom longer. The holidays are always hard," Carleigh said.

Kasey nodded. "I understand," she reassured her friend. "It's the same for me, but... none of them are around anyway, so it... it's almost better that way."

"Kasey..."

"It's been over ten years, Carleigh. It's alright," Kasey said. 

"It's not alright. I know how it feels, and the pain never goes away," Carleigh insisted. "You always have a place with my family, Kasey. I know that England is hard to get to."

"You're an amazing friend, Carleigh," Kasey said. Joanne brought their drinks and muffins over and then left. "That means a lot to me, especially with Hamilton. There's not really much time to fly over and back, and right now I'm not allowed to fly home."

"Why not?"

"The application requires you not to leave the country for a few months before you gain your citizenship."

"That makes sense," Carleigh said. "But I'll talk to my mom. I'm sure she'll love to have you over for Christmas."

"I don't want to intrude on your family-"

"Kasey, you're my best friend. My mom knows how important you are to me, and she knows what happened to your family. She'll love to have you. Don't even worry about it."